“Once the fish was on the line, I knew I had a decent one, but I didn’t at all think it was a striped bass,” Dillman said. “I thought it was a spoonbill or something else. But when I got him to the bank I knew I had something amazing.”

The longtime angler said the fish is now at Bass Pro in Springfield getting mounted.

Dillman said he fishes every day and he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

“I’ve caught bigger fish in the ocean, but this fish is the biggest fresh-water fish I have ever caught.”